1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to three dimensional lenticular images, and in particular to an apparatus and method for producing three dimensional lenticular images that can have a realistic appearance.
2. Background
Two dimensional images are well known. Humans have created two dimensional images via painting, photography, or other methods for centuries. However, it can be desirable to present and view three dimensional images in order to convey depth and the appearance of reality.
Human beings perceive depth through binocular vision in which the left eye sees a slightly different image than the right eye. Some past attempts at presenting a three dimensional image rely on stereoscopic display methods that allow each eye to perceive a different image. Many stereoscopic systems require the viewer to wear glasses with specialized lenses, such as anaglyph lenses, polarized lenses, or active shutter 3D glasses, but these specialized glasses can be uncomfortable for the viewer. Other stereoscopic systems use methods that do not require glasses, such as a parallax barrier in which small barriers are placed in front of an image such that each eye sees different portions of the image through gaps between the barriers. However, regardless of whether or not glasses are used, stereoscopic systems only present two images. The viewer's left eye will always see the same left eye image, and the viewer's right eye will always see the same right eye image, and therefore the viewer is limited to viewing the image from the viewpoint chosen by the author of the image. The viewer cannot use a stereoscopic system to, move around and see the three dimensional image from a variety of different angles, which can enhance the perception of depth and make the image seem more realistic than a stereoscopic image.
Three dimensional images displayed using lenticular lenses attempt to solve this problem. Lenticular lenses comprise a plurality of lenticules positioned side by side. Lenticules are lenses that can magnify interlaced slices of an image. Multiple slices, can be viewed through each lenticule, with the angle of view determining which slice is perceived by the viewer. Lenticular lenses can therefore display a scene from multiple angles, as different images can be displayed depending on the angle of view. Three dimensional images can be displayed using lenticular lenses by presenting images of different viewpoints of the same scene at different viewing angles.
Traditionally, three dimensional lenticular scenes have been captured, by moving a camera to different horizontal positions and taking pictures of the entire scene from varying locations. However, this method can produce objects that are out of focus because the camera can be focused on one object while not being focused on other objects in the scene, or because the camera is positioned at varying distances from objects within the scene while taking pictures. Additionally, when the entire scene is photographed at the same time, individual objects cannot be, positioned at other locations within the three dimensional scene or animated after the pictures have been taken.
Another method for creating lenticular images uses software to process a single image using multiple image layers, alpha channel masks, and depth masks to synthesize a three dimensional scene. However, this method can require a lot of artistic effort, can introduce artifacts and distortions, and can result in images that have limited three dimensional depth and lack the appearance of reality.
What is needed is an apparatus and method for creating three dimensional scenes that allow objects to be photographed individually and composited into a three dimensional scene, while also maintaining the ability for each object to be positioned in three dimensional space within the scene or be animated after being photographed, without introducing artifacts or distortions and allowing a viewer's eye to properly focus on any object in the scene in a realistic manner.